weekend (-ing)

Visiting with friends, 

afternoon napping, 

laundry hanging, 

early morning walking, 

football watching, 

cookie baking, 

sidewalk sweeping, 

market shopping, 

jazz listening in the paese, 

movie watching,

scooter riding,

reading, 

music making...

The days were long and slow. The sun was glorious.

Truly & thankfully.

corner view

corner view :: what makes you happy

The fact that we have a mere 23 days until summer break...that makes me a very happy woman. That my sister and her family will be here in a little over a month brings nothing but HAPPINESS. The spring in Italy, the tent we just bought, the fact that my daughter has her last geography test of the school year today, the local cherries, the exciting future of my beloved students who are soon to be graduates, the card that arrived from my parents yesterday, finally beginning Flora and Ulysses with Young One last night...happy, Happy, HAPPY.

 

But this little garden patch that we started in April and that is currently thriving...that is undoubtedly topping my happiness charts! 

Corner View is a weekly appointment shared by people around the globe, an appointment started in the spring of 2009 by Jane in Spain and currently hosted by Francesca over at Fuori Borgo. We welcome you to join us.

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corner view :: close by

Even though we live out in the country, right in the middle of fruit orchards, olive groves and vineyards, we do not have a yard. It's a bit odd to consider...country living with no yard...but it is our reality.

We do have a couple of postage stamp-sized plots of land just behind our house, plots just the right size for an olive tree in one and for attempts at gardening in the other. And we have a lovely outdoor patio in the front where we spend lots of time in the warm months. But no yard or giardino. Our child plays in the blacktop public parking lot behind our house.

Even so, we never, ever lament the fact that we don't have a yard. Okay...at times, when I dream of having a dog, I do wish we had a yard...and then I don't adopt that dog that we don't have time to take care of anyway (or so I tell myself) because we have no yard for him. And all is well that ends well. Without a yard.

What we do have, though, is access to all that you see pictured here real close by, as in a minute from my lovely patio gate. And for us, this has proven to be a much better deal than a yard, a yard with a fence and a ton of grass to mow.

Now, my daughter, she has a different opinion about this, without a doubt: Grass, Mamma, I just want grass at my house!

Corner View is a weekly appointment shared by people around the globe, an appointment started in the spring of 2009 by Jane in Spain and currently hosted by Francesca over at Fuori Borgo. We welcome you to join us.

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corner view :: evening

There has been a bit of a theme to our evenings here lately. The neighbors in the paese are probably talking about the number of bottles we take to the recycling bin each Saturday morning after spending many of the evenings during the week on the patio; I know they are talking about the bel profumo that comes from the grill on some evenings because I hear them again and again and again as they walk on by. Che bel profumo! There are always lots of people out and about on foot in the paese.

Corner View is a weekly appointment shared by people around the globe, an appointment started in the spring of 2009 by Jane in Spain and currently hosted by Francesca over at Fuori Borgo. We welcome you to join us. Next week's theme: "what to do in your country."

PS. We recycle the green bottles in a different way, returning each case of empty bottles to a local beverage store in exchange for a case of full ones. I suppose they are cleaned properly and reused.

on being free

Around this time of year we are generally bombarded with commitments to others, both social and professional. Actually, it continues throughout the year, and in some cases our entire weekends are booked months in advance. These are not necessarily commitments related to Young One's activities. {Sigh.} It's difficult to refuse invitations to explore or to be with others, but we are doing it. Yes, we are. We are committed, together, to reclaim and protect our free time. I hope our gaggle of extroverted friends understands.

Neither of us would ever shirk from professional responsibilities, but those lines are often blurred for us, making this even more complicated at times.

Being free, without obligations, does not mean being available to others. That's a new concept for us.

Right now our absolute favorite place to be is our front patio, and while we enjoy the company of others in that place, we are just as content with just the two of us. Hello. We each like to be out there alone, as well, reclining in our spiffy new French chair, my back-to-school gift to myself this year.

We need downtime to be able to be our best selves.

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If you are passing through the paese and see us out there, please accept our invitation to stop by for a drink. We'd love to see you. We do enjoy your company. We likely can feed you. We even have enough bug spray for everyone. Just understand that when we aren't up for that outing with all those people...that it has absolutely nothing to do with you. We are introverted homebodies who have been masquerading as social extroverts. This gig is up.

#protectingourfreetime

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And this shall be the main floor! (July 2007)



corner view :: imagine

A couple of weeks ago one of my friends who is a life-long native to Vicenza came out to the paese with her boys and her husband for a gathering we hosted during the time of our village's annual festival or sagra. We brought a nice group of Italian and American friends together on our patio for bruschette and spritz and created, as one friend called it, "a tailgate atmosphere" in our little corner of the paese which was hopping with visitors in search of peas, cherries, hiking paths, and rock climbing adventures. The paese draws quite a crowd on a beautiful spring or fall day, but it's never as busy as when it's sagra time.

A neighbor stopped by with an offer to trade a bowl of freshly-picked cherries for a spritz. Some friends immediately headed out to explore with cameras. Others struggled with finding parking and we watched them go round and round and round in a rented van stuffed with Stateside visitors. Kids, both American and Italian, were able to don harnesses and experience a bit of rock climbing at the huge boulder at the end of the street. One neighbor brought his visiting parents from Milan to join us. An Italian friend and an American friend with boys about the same age learned that their kids play in the same soccer league. I brought a couple of friends to a neighbor farmer to purchase some of  his famous bisi, or peas.

Eventually, our guests walked down to the church and soccer field for a "pea-centric" dinner under the characteristic white tents that accompany the festivals in this area. I walked along with my girlfriend and her boys at about the same time that mass ended, and as we did so, we were greeted with smiles by one local after another walking home after mass. Some wanted to chat, others just to greet us warmly. One after another the welcoming kindness continued until we reached the tent, where we found even more friendly faces from the paese. I think it took my friend from the city a bit by surprise. Honestly, it surprised me a bit, too. She increduously told me, "They like you. I mean, they really, really, really like you." I grinned, knowingly, finally.

............................

When we first agreed to purchase our home in the paese nearly five years ago, I did imagine that this day would arrive. Believe me, there have been countless days since then that I thought myself a fool for ever even considering it.  But. Here we are. We belong. We will always be outsiders. Always. Small towns are just like that, all over the world, but it seems to be especially difficult to be an outsider in this part of Italy. But now we are outsiders who belong to the paese. After five long years of minding our manners...five years of "Salve, Signora," with barely a response...five years of always, always, always being mindful of what the neighbors or locals are thinking...five years of trying to hold on to ourselves while attempting to belong to a foreign culture ... "they" (and I mean nearly all of "them") have decided that we are okay. I guess we'll stay for a while. I can't imagine doing this again in a new place.

Young One checks out her tub! (April 2008)

Electricity and Water (January 2008)



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For more corner views from around the world of this week's theme, "imagine," visit Francesca.

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corner view :: everyday

In and out ... every day.

The entryway of our home in northern Italy never seems to be as tidy as those of my neighbors. "Do they sweep every single day? Twice?" I wonder in frustration. A little voice in my head answers, "You already know the answer. Silly American woman."

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For more corner views, visit Francesca.

these final days of 2011

The final week of 2011 has been mostly low key, with moments of ...

Performing happy dances over surprises from Santa ...

Trying out new tools with an old friend, who happens to be a pasta-loving man, too ...

Welcoming new dolls and animals into the mix ...

Reminiscing with cherised friends from our early days in Naples (Has it been that long?) ...

And DANCING in the basement! Lots and lots of dancing!

We are in full-on vacation mode with late nights and late mornings, naps and afternoon espressos, books and movies, and lots of discussion of plans for 2012. Many of the opened gifts are still placed under the tree, the laundry pile is multiplying, the dust bunnies are gathering, and nary a proper meal has been prepared (minus the pasta one evening); I wouldn't have it any other way.

updated & thoughts on color

There are a million different things I should have been doing after a still-recovering Young One fell asleep early and Richard was out for a night doing manly things, leaving me alone for nearly two complete hours in a quiet and chilly house on the cusp of the weekend.

Don't go thinking I was about to waste my solitude on the laundry or the dishes, or even on my great homemade Christmas gifts project, my friends.

Instead, I updated from this ...

to this ...

I've been having a love affair with these colors for the past couple of years; it's about time I get them on this space. Now, to get that mustard yellow on my walls in place of the noncommittal pastel yellow courtesy of my Italian painter who was convinced I absolutely did not want anything darker three years ago. Guess what? I found a new painter. He likes color. Despite this lovely fact, he just finished painting our basement ... white! Aghhh. Could this be the reason for the sudden need to add these colors here? To use my time so wisely. Help me.

found: still life in the tidy room

Evidently Madison & Rebecca are ready for a summer vacation, too.

we all survived, happily. kinda.

There is The Hangover, and then there is "The Sleepover." The bachelor party and the first multiple child sleepover. Both rites of passage in their own way. Both equally exciting. Let's face it: both potentially disastrous.

The room will never be the same again.

Before the last girl left our house Saturday, the room was once again tidy. I only asked them to straighten the room once. Of course, I haven't opened the closet doors, yet.

Happy Sunday!

little people in the paese

It's been about three years now that we've been living out in the paese. When people ask us how we like living "so far out" from the city, the answer is always the same: At this point in the history of our family, we wouldn't consider trading it for much of anything.

And these are among all the little reasons why . . .

Neighbor kids gathered to celebrate a birthday with us.

There is ALWAYS someone ready to play, always. Let the late summer nights out back begin!


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More images from the recent birthday party out back can be found on Flickr.

photo display complete, for now

I was inspired by Emily to use magnet boards to display photos; she found the idea here . . . but really, it's all over the web.  The magnet boards are from IKEA, while the magnets are from both Crate and Barrel and this place. I ordered the prints from MPix, who offers a host of sizes.

And the photos?  They are mine and I'm (finally) proud to display a bit of my "work," imperfect as it may be.

Completing this project makes me all kinds of happy.

It's a perfect way to welcome spring and her rays of sun into our home.

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corner view / italy

corner view ::  summer

2 half-naked bambini enjoying pasta on my patio

i love summer

PS. We never cut the pasta, wouldn't even dream of it. Do you?

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To see more summer around the world, visit Jane's Corner View sidebar.

corner view / italy

corner view / italy  ::  front door

When we purchased our unfinished home, there were many choices to be made: tiles, floors, kitchen cabinets, bathroom fixtures, wardrobes, location of light switches, interior doors. There was a solid year of decision making . . . but not the front door.  The door was already there the first day I saw the house.

 I love my big red door.

No. Seriously.  I mean I L.O.V.E. it.

Yep. That much.

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For more images of doors across the lands, see Jane in Spain for links to other corner view participants.

corner view / italy

 corner view::favorite hangout

Favorite hangout? I’m not sure what you mean. If by hang-out you mean a place outside of my home that I frequent to just chill with my peeps while we sip cocktails or cappuccinos and watch the world go by, then I’m sorry to say that life hasn’t dealt me those cards – even in il bel paese.
 
I’m a thirty-something working mother who rushes out each morning at "0 dark thirty" and returns most evenings after the sun has set in just enough time to complete the day’s chores before catching my breath and getting the Young One ready for bed. On good days, I will stay up past 9 pm and pass the time with Photoshop and/or blogger, or, if he is lucky, my dear husband.  Being awake past 10 pm is rare.

My Front Patio in the Spring

Today it is covered in a light dusting of snow & most plant life seems dead.

In the times of the year that we aren’t hibernating like bears inside of our warm cave in those hours between work and activities, I do like to hang out on my front patio where I can watch life slowly pass me by in the form of hikers, climbers, and farmers who mosey up my little via.  Occasionally, I’ll even have a cocktail or cappuccino.

Perhaps it is safe to call me a “homebody.”
The summer, of course, is tutta un'altra cosa.

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For more Corner Views, see Jane in Spain.